This year marked the 50th anniversary of David Lean’s Lawrence of Arabia. To mark the occasion, a digitally restored edition was released, and I had the a chance to see it on the Empire Leicester Square’s biggest screen: an auditorium vast enough to complement the scale of the film’s setting, but normally reserved for mediocre [...]
“Extraterrestrial” Director: Nacho Vigalondo Writer: Nacho Vigalondo Starring: Michelle Jenner, Carlos Areces, Julián Villagrán “Extraterrestrial” is a movie I’ve been excited about for a while, in part because of how it was marketed – the small, almost invisible glimpses of the alien ships in the posters, and the creative viral marketing aspect to it all. [...]
“Drive” romanticizes a lot of things that shouldn’t be romanticized: The myth of redemptive violence, dangerous and illegal driving, robbery, evading police and, most egregiously, Members Only jackets. But one thing Nicolas Winding Refn’s 80s-themed, stone-cold badass tale gets right, is the sheer power of cinematic style. The director of other style-over-substance masterpieces such as [...]
It’s Guy Fawkes Night, and the South London sky is pulsing with brilliant explosions. In the midst of the celebration, Sam (Jodie Whittaker) is mugged at knife-point by a gang of teen hoodlums. Before they get away with their meager take, however, a flaming object smashes into a nearby car. Moses (John Boyega), the gang’s leader, [...]
Critics can be a fickle bunch. Lavishing this, lambasting that. But with most films it’s relatively easy to predict the critical response. Originality, cohesiveness, perky dialogue and fleshed out characters get the O.K. Convoluted stories, dull characters and shameless wish-fulfillment fantasies are blasted. But since “Jaws” gave birth to the summer blockbuster in 1975, and that [...]
Up-and-coming auteur Rian Johnson recently tweeted, “The filmmaking in Hanna was pretty humbling.” That’s high praise coming from the man behind the indie caper sensation “Brick” and the quirky con flick “The Brothers Bloom.” But high praise is old hat for “Hanna” director Joe Wright who’s used to being gushed over by cinephiles. The minutes-long [...]
The most common mistake made by first-time directors is to cram every film school trick and cutting edge idea into that debut film. A bloated, pretentious, insufferable and flashy effort is often the result. On the other hand, a great director’s first film is rarely representative of his/her full repertoire of skills and ideas. Even [...]
Anyone who has ever worked in a corporate setting or been trained in some unique job or activity has had to sit through an outdated, ineffectual instructional video. When I worked as a data operator for the US Postal Service I was treated to several rounds of carpal tunnel-based warning videos in which both the [...]
“Retired, Extremely Dangerous” is the secret behind the ambiguous title of the Robert Schwentke-directed adaptation of the popular graphic novel “RED,” created by Warren Ellis and Cully Hamner. Fitting, considering the average age of the film’s super spy task force kicking ass and literally taking names is 62. Bruce Willis, Helen Mirren, John Malkovich and [...]
The permanent scowl etched into the ungodly face of Danny Trejo has helped the former San Quentin State Prison boxing champion parlay his talent for the terrible into a decorated Hollywood career. Trejo’s specialty has been wielding that hellish face like a Mexican Medusa to command scenes as a solid supporting player. His leading roles have [...]
